All stories about the hair man come from different oral traditions. They make no claim to the reproduction of real events and realistic conditions or contemporary historical contexts. About the origin of this ghostly figure the following is told:
"Once upon a time there lived in Drewer an innkeeper. When his guests had drunk too much in the tavern, he often lured them late at night into his cellar, which had been set up as a "gambling den". There he would cheat them at forbidden games with cards and dice, taking the last of their money out of their pockets.
Soon, however, these clandestine machinations became known. A priest from the neighboring village tried to put a stop to the reprehensible goings-on and threatened the unreasonable landlord that he would not find peace with God after his death and would have to wander restlessly along the hairline for eternity. In the shape of the hair man, the landlord had to atone for his misdeeds after his death and to remind the people of the Haarstrang of the consequences of his once sinful way of life with eerie and mysterious encounters, nasty harassments or crude pranks.
For example, a farmer reported:
"... All at once the horses became restless and no longer wanted to go forward. In the middle of the road in front of them stood the little hair man. He had a long black beard and wore a little coat with a hood. His eyes shone like glowing coals. With a mighty leap it suddenly jumped between the horses, ran long over the drawbar and sat down on the buck next to the frightened carter. The latter could hardly restrain the wild animals..."